Hi. I mix music and rap. I've barely ever tried to produce or compose anything, but when I have I've used FL Studio. I used to come on this site a long time ago but haven't for a while. I don't know who else to ask or where to put this question. I don't really have anyone to ask in real life.

My question is this. How do producers make and create their own sounds as far as synthesizers, pads, and leads in the production? I'm not talking about drum sounds or loops or anything like that. I'm talking about the melodies and what drives the record. Are there ways to do it on FL Studio with the presets like Ogun and Harmless? Or is it more like you have to buy aftermarket stuff like Native Instruments Komplete Ultimate and it comes with a bunch of custom sounding stuff or tools to create custom sounding stuff? I just straight up don't know.

Answers to these questions and anything extra would be really appreciated. This has been on my mind for months and it makes me feel like I've run into a brick wall mentally. Thank you guys

I wouldn't get too hung up on creating original sounds. Millions have trodden this path before you, so finding something truly unique is a bit of a garden path. Putting sounds together in unique combinations is arguably a better aim, and that comes down to making good arrangements of good material.

But if you really are hitting a wall then maybe it's time to get out of the box and try some hardware?

JamesAllenLayman wrote:My question is this. How do producers make and create their own sounds as far as synthesizers, pads, and leads in the production? I'm not talking about drum sounds or loops or anything like that. I'm talking about the melodies and what drives the record.

+1 to what the Elf says. What makes a sound new is not the sound, it's how you use it in a composition. Distorted guitars have been used on thousands of tracks, and yet some stand out and some don't.

If your question then becomes how to use the sounds.. well, that's what making music is all about. Usually you want to listen a lot (years, even decades), absorb all the stuff and then do something that goes beyond these influences in some way. Even Mozart did - he just started very young so by the time he was 18 he already had some 15 years of listening and playing experience..

The Elf wrote:I wouldn't get too hung up on creating original sounds. Millions have trodden this path before you, so finding something truly unique is a bit of a garden path. Putting sounds together in unique combinations is arguably a better aim, and that comes down to making good arrangements of good material.

But if you really are hitting a wall then maybe it's time to get out of the box and try some hardware?

Thank you for your reply. I have an Akai Timbre Wolf keyboard with not much of an idea of how to use it I hate to admit.

job wrote:Sampling can be one way. Any noise can be recorded. You don't have to stick with the original sound but can twist it, morph it, apply effects to it, etc. This will most likely be an original sound.

Another way is to synthesise it. Combine oscillators, filers, effects (and samples), to make an original sound.

You can also start with someone else's sound as a base and change it, either slightly or unrecognisably.

Could make your own instrument.

You say synthesize it, add effects and whatever else to make it unique. But my question is more like, where does that initial sound come from to begin with? Stock synths on FL Studio like Ogun and Harmless have a bunch of sounds built into them, but even when they are riddled with effects and whatever else, they are still stock, generic sounds that anyone witha copy of FL Studio can access.

So where do I find unique sounds without sampling? Do I buy virtual instrument bundles like Native Instruments or Omnisphere?

job wrote:Sampling can be one way. Any noise can be recorded. You don't have to stick with the original sound but can twist it, morph it, apply effects to it, etc. This will most likely be an original sound.

Another way is to synthesise it. Combine oscillators, filers, effects (and samples), to make an original sound.

You can also start with someone else's sound as a base and change it, either slightly or unrecognisably.

Could make your own instrument.

Thank you for your reply. Sampling as a way to get a unique sound I understand.

You talk about synthesizing and adding filters and effects and what not. My question is, before any effects or filters or oscillators are even added, where does that initial sound come from? FL Studio comes with synths like Ogun and Harmless that have a bunch of sounds built in, but even with effects and filters they are still generic, stock sounds that anyone who has the program can access and use.

So where do sounds come from that aren't stock like the ones in Ogun and Harmless? Do you have to buy big virtual instrument bundles like Native Instruments and Omnisphere?

My advice is to stop worrying about how unique you can be for the moment and take some time to learn how basic synthesis works.

I've not used the Timbre Wolf, but I've taken a look at the manual. Typical of many modern devices it hides a lot behind a few controls, shift buttons and the like. I have to say that it doesn't look a good device to learn on, and given your lack of experience, I'm not surprised you don't know how it works!

A basic hardware synth, such as a Novation Bass Station or the like would be a good way to learn. Failing that a simple plug-in synth would at least get you on your way.

With the best will in the world, I would say that Ogun and Harmless (and I've only glimpsed a couple of pics to see what they're about) are beyond you at this stage. There are plenty of far simpler free plug-ins that would more suit a learner; TAL-BassLine would be good for starters.

Just be patient. You're trying to run, but at the moment you need to learn to walk!

The Elf wrote:My advice is to stop worrying about how unique you can be for the moment and take some time to learn how basic synthesis works.

I've not used the Timbre Wolf, but I've taken a look at the manual. Typical of many modern devices it hides a lot behind a few controls, shift buttons and the like. I have to say that it doesn't look a good device to learn on, and given your lack of experience, I'm not surprised you don't know how it works!

A basic hardware synth, such as a Novation Bass Station or the like would be a good way to learn. Failing that a simple plug-in synth would at least get you on your way.

With the best will in the world, I would say that Ogun and Harmless (and I've only glimpsed a couple of pics to see what they're about) are beyond you at this stage. There are plenty of far simpler free plug-ins that would more suit a learner; TAL-BassLine would be good for starters.

Just be patient. You're trying to run, but at the moment you need to learn to walk!

With all of the help you guys have provided me so far, I hate to suggest that my original question hasn't been fully answered. Maybe I didn't articulate it the best that I could to begin with. I partly understand the process of synthesis and how it is used to edit sounds to make them even more unique. My question is more like, where do all of those sounds come from? The sounds that we end up editing to make them even more unique.

JamesAllenLayman wrote:My question is more like, where do all of those sounds come from? The sounds that we end up editing to make them even more unique.

Same as any musical thing: seldom, someone having a sound in their head and managing to create it, most often someone doing random movements and discovering something marvelous. A lot of random movements.

It just means setting the controls to a basic starting point - all effects off, no modulation of filters of envelopes, ADSR (and other envelopes types) set to a simple non-extreme setting.

Create a setting like that and save it as a patch, then you can keep going back to that patch, modifying it, and once you get a sound you like, you can save that as another patch. But keep going back to that simple patch (at least at first) so each new patch has been fully created by you, and you knowing what you've done, that staring from someone elese's preset and modifying that.

You can do that sort of thing later, but you learn less from tweaking an existing complex sound than finding out how to create such a patch yourself from first principles.

Wonks wrote:It just means setting the controls to a basic starting point - all effects off, no modulation of filters of envelopes, ADSR (and other envelopes types) set to a simple non-extreme setting.

Create a setting like that and save it as a patch, then you can keep going back to that patch, modifying it, and once you get a sound you like, you can save that as another patch. But keep going back to that simple patch (at least at first) so each new patch has been fully created by you, and you knowing what you've done, that staring from someone elese's preset and modifying that.

You can do that sort of thing later, but you learn less from tweaking an existing complex sound than finding out how to create such a patch yourself from first principles.

I think we're getting somewhere more towards what I was asking to begin with now, not to discredit any information that I've been given thus far.

What are some examples of the VST's that you guys use to mess around with your patch templates?

I'm using FL Studio 12. You guys may or may not use different software. Where would be the best place on FL for me to initialize a simple patch and begin building my own sound?

(sorry, the site breaks the formatting, if you copy and paste, rather than click it, it does work... honest)

Those presets are designed by someone, but the starting point depends on the type of sound generation process being invoked by the synth in question.

The most common is probably subtractive, where you start with a simple generated tone (traditionally sine/tri/square) and carve the sound you want from layers of pure tones.

Additive synths work by adding a multitude of pure tones together.

FM works by tonally modulating waves with other waves.

Wavetables work with snippets of tones audio saved within a table.

and there are many others to get your head around.

I mention this as your two examples there are not really traditional synths. Harmless is an additive synth with a subtractive design and Ogun i think is a purely additive? (been a while since i've seen it, could be wrong).

Most people suggest starting with a basic subtractive synth and to be honest I've not idea if FL even has one these days. ToguAudioLine (TAL) have "Noizemaker" which is free and as simple as it gets for learning the basics of synth programing.

This is assuming you just want to make electronica noises. If you want proper sounds for your projects (i.e. real instruments) then you'd be wanting something sample based like Kontakt or something else that samples and lets you playback libaries.

(sorry, the site breaks the formatting, if you copy and paste, rather than click it, it does work... honest)

Those presets are designed by someone, but the starting point depends on the type of sound generation process being invoked by the synth in question.

The most common is probably subtractive, where you start with a simple generated tone (traditionally sine/tri/square) and carve the sound you want from layers of pure tones.

Additive synths work by adding a multitude of pure tones together.

FM works by tonally modulating waves with other waves.

Wavetables work with snippets of tones audio saved within a table.

and there are many others to get your head around.

I mention this as your two examples there are not really traditional synths. Harmless is an additive synth with a subtractive design and Ogun i think is a purely additive? (been a while since i've seen it, could be wrong).

Most people suggest starting with a basic subtractive synth and to be honest I've not idea if FL even has one these days. ToguAudioLine (TAL) have "Noizemaker" which is free and as simple as it gets for learning the basics of synth programing.

This is assuming you just want to make electronica noises. If you want proper sounds for your projects (i.e. real instruments) then you'd be wanting something sample based like Kontakt or something else that samples and lets you playback libaries.

You're getting a lot closer to what I was talking about to begin with.

My goal is not to make electronica noises. My goal is to make proper sounds for my projects.

What is the difference between Kontakt and a virtual instrument bundle such as Native Instruments Komplete or Omnisphere?

If I were to have either of these three things, how would I go about using them to create a basic hip hop beat or something simple?

From the top of the page, we have TRK-01, a kick and bass instrument, that can be our initial beat machine because beats generally have kicks in them. Maybe our bass too. Scroll down and we see something called Monark, a "Monophonic synthesizer capturing every sonic nuance of the king of analog". Interesting, let's stick some of that in there. Maybe as bass because analogue bass is fat and cool. We then see Rounds... "complex, sequenced, sound shifting capabilites." Maybe we can use that as a foundation for some melody lines, or some ear candy, who knows! Bung it in, go nuts and have fun.

We then come to sampled instruments, let's play a few of these until we find something we like for our melody.

We then come to Drums and Percussion instruments, i guess we could exchange one of these in place of the TRK. Let's try them out and see. And on it goes...

Are these sounds agreeable to you? I haven't got a clue. It's your music, your choice. And that's the point.